|Current Research Activities:|
Maureen Waller is a sociologist who studies families, poverty, and social policy. Her research has examined the meaning of major family transitions in disadvantaged communities, and how social policies designed to address these changes correspond to poor families' lived experiences. Her current research explores unmarried parents' interactions with the family court system.
My Baby’s Father (Cornell University Press) drew on intensive interviews with unmarried men and women with children receiving welfare to examine how they framed the decision to have a child outside of marriage, how they defined unmarried fathers’ obligation to their children, how they negotiated informal economic support, and how these practices interacted with mandatory welfare and child support regulations. Subsequent research has used a mixed methods approach to examine other issues which deeply affect the lives of poor families, such as: the implications of paternal incarceration for family stability, the consequences of child support and other debt for disadvantaged men and their families, how parents' expectations about marriage and the fear of divorce influence decisions about marriage and cohabitation, and the meaning of fathering and coparenting following a non-marital birth.
Funding for Waller's research has been provided by NICHD, NSF, NIFA, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Public Policy Institute of California, the Cornell Population Center, the Institute for Social Sciences, and the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center at Cornell University.
Waller, Maureen R. (2002). My Baby's Father: Unmarried Parents and Paternal Responsibility. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. [book]
[Google book preview]
Turner, Kimberly and Maureen R. Waller (forthcoming) "Indebted Relationships: Child Support Arrears and Nonresident Fathers' Invovlement with Children." Journal of Marriage and Family.
Katzenstein, Mary Fainsod and Maureen R. Waller (2015). "Taxing the Poor: Incarceration, Poverty Governance, and the Seizure of Family Resources." Perspectives on Politics, 13(3): 638-656.
Waller, Maureen R. and Maggie R. Jones. (2014). "Who is the Residential Parent? Understanding Discrepancies in Unmarried Parents' Reports." Journal of Marriage and Family, 76: 73-93.
Waller, Maureen R. and Allison Dwyer Emory. (2014) "Parents Apart: Differences between Unmarried and Divorcing Parents in Separated Families." Family Court Review, 52: 686-703.
Waller, Maureen R. (2012) "Cooperation, Conflict, or Disengagement? Coparenting Styles and Father Involvement in Fragile Families. Family Process, 51: 325-342.
McHale, James, Waller, Maureen R. and Pearson, Jessica. (2012). "Coparenting Interventions for Fragile Families: What Do We Know and Where Do We Need to Go Next?" Family Process, 51: 284-306.
Waller, Maureen R. (2010). "Viewing Low-Income Fathers' Ties to Families through a Cultural Lens: Insights for Research and Policy." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 629: 102-124. [abstract]
Waller, Maureen R. (2009). "Family Man in the Other America: New Opportunities, Motivations, and Supports for Paternal Caregiving." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol 624, No. 1, 156-176 (2009) [abstract]
Waller, Maureen R. and H. Elizabeth Peters. (2008) "The Risk of Divorce as a Barrier to Marriage among Parents of Young Children." Social Science Research 37(4): 1188-1199. [paper]
Waller, Maureen R. (2008). "How Do Disadvantaged Parents View Tensions in their Relationships? Insights for Relationship Longevity among At-Risk Couples." Family Relations 57(2): 128-143. [abstract]
Waller, Maureen R. and Marianne Bitler. (2008). "The Link between Couples’ Pregnancy Intentions and Behavior: Does It Matter Who Is Asked?" Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 40(4): 194-201. [abstract]
Swisher, Raymond and Maureen Waller. (2008). “Confining Fatherhood: Incarceration and Paternal Involvement among Nonresident White, African-American and Latino Fathers.” Journal of Family Issues 29(8): 1067-1088. [abstract]
Crowley, Jocelyn E., Margaret Watson, and Maureen R. Waller. (2008). Understanding "Power Talk:" Language, Public Policy, and Democracy. Perspectives on Politics 6(1): 71-88. [abstract]
Waller, Maureen R. and Raymond Swisher. (2006). Fathers' Risk Factors in Fragile Families: Implications for "Healthy" Relationships and Father Involvement. Social Problems. 53 (3): 392-420. [paper]
Waller, Maureen R. and Sara S. McLanahan. (2005). "His" and "Her" Marriage Expectations: Determinants and Consequences. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67: 53-67. [abstract]
Waller, Maureen R. and Robert Plotnick. (2001). "Effective Child Support Policy for Low-Income Families: Evidence from Street Level Research". The Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 20(1): 89-110. [abstract]
Waller, Maureen R. (2001). "High Hopes: Unwed Parents' Expectations about Marriage." Children and Youth Services Review, 2